Remotely controlling video display devices

ABSTRACT

A processor-based system may be controlled by a remote control unit. An image of the remote control unit may be displayed on a display associated with the processor-based system. When a particular button on the remote control unit is depressed, a corresponding indication may be provided on the image of the remote control unit.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates generally to remotely controlling appliances orcomputer systems, including television receivers.

Remote control units may be utilized to control television receivers andother devices including computer systems and appliances without thenecessity to walk over to the device to alter its settings. For example,infrared-based remote controls are commonly used with televisionreceivers. Similarly, infrared remote controls are used withentertainment systems.

In a variety of circumstances, the remote control may be utilized in aroom that is relatively dark. Even in the case where the user iswatching television, there may be insufficient light to be able to viewthe various buttons on the remote control unit.

In devices called set-top boxes, the user may use a remote control unitto enter text displayed on a television receiver. That is, computerfunctions may be actually implemented using a set-top box controlled bythe remote control unit and associated with the television receiver.Thus, the user may input relatively complex textual input commands tothe set-top box through the remote control unit. These commands mayappear on the television display. However, in many cases, it is awkwardfor the user to look downwardly at the remote control unit at the sametime the user should be looking upwardly at the display to see theentries as they are displayed. For example, if the user is entering textthrough the remote control unit, it may work better to watch the displayrather than to watch the information being typed into the remote controlunit in accordance with touch-typing principles associated withconventional keyboards.

Thus, there is a need for a better way to provide input commands usingremote control units that facilitates data entry in a low lightenvironment and that further facilitates the entry of more complex textinput commands.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a processor-based system, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the television receiver shown inFIG. 1 in operation, in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart for software resident on the set-top box shown inFIG. 1, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3A is a flow chart for software resident on the set-top box shownin FIG. 1, in accordance with another embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for software resident on the set-top box, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is flow chart for software also resident on the set-top box, inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a partial, greatly enlarged cross-sectional view of one of thebuttons on the remote control unit shown in FIG. 1, in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a partial, top plan view of a portion of the contact pad underthe button shown in FIG. 6, in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the system shown in FIG. 1, in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A processor-based system 10, shown in FIG. 1, may be implemented as aset-top box, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.However, other processor-based systems including desktop computersystems, laptop computer systems, and appliances includingprocessor-based systems such as television receivers may implement thepresent invention.

In FIG. 1, a set-top box 12 sits atop a television receiver 14. Both theset-top box 12 and television receiver 14 are controlled by a remotecontrol unit 22. In accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention and infrared interface may be implemented between atransceiver 26 on the remote control unit 22 and transceivers 18 and 16associated with the television receiver 14 and set-top box 12respectively. However, other wireless protocols may be utilizedincluding radio frequency protocols and a Bluetooth protocol.

As used herein, a remote control unit may be any wireless peripheralthat operates a processor-based system including the type of remotecontrol unit commonly associated with television receivers. A wirelesskeyboard, wireless mouse, and wireless tablet are additional examples ofremote control units.

The remote control unit 22 may include a variety of buttons indicated at23, 24 and 27 for generating wireless signals from the transceiver 26.These signals are received by the transceivers 16 and 18 to control theoperation of the set-top box 12 or the television receiver 14respectively. The resulting control signals produced by the transceiver26 may be simple television control signals, such as “adjust volume”,“change channel”, or “turn the television receiver 14 on” or “off”. Inaddition, the commands may be complex textual inputs to control theset-top box 12 to implement conventional computer systems includingnavigating the Internet, initiating a purchase transaction, or providinginformation to a variety of forms, as a few examples.

Referring next to FIG. 2, a graphical user interface 28 may be displayedon the television screen 20 of the television receiver 14, in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention. In this case, anelectronic programming guide software application may be implemented inwhich a variety of television channel indicators 38 and associatedprogram information 36 may be displayed in a grid display on thetelevision receiver 14. In a conventional electronic programming guide,a plurality of television programs (such as the Star Trek programsindicated) are associated with channel indications 38 and timeindications 36. By mouse clicking on one of the program entries, theuser may select a program for automatic television tuning.Conventionally, the input commands to select a particular program may beprovided from the remote control unit 22, shown in FIG. 1, using thenavigation keys 23. By pressing on the navigator button 23, theposition-of the highlighting may be moved, and by pressing the selectbutton 27, a particular highlighted entry may be selected.

An image 34 of the remote control unit 22 may be displayed inassociation with the graphical user interface 28. The image 34 mayreflect the button arrangement of the actual remote control unit 22.When the user selects a button on the real remote control unit 22, suchas the button 23, the corresponding button image 32 is highlighted asindicated in FIG. 2.

In fact, before actually selecting a particular button on the remotecontrol unit 22, the user may lightly depress a particular button suchas the button 23 causing the associated button image 32 on the remoteimage 34 to be highlighted. This facilitates selecting the correctbutton on the remote control unit 22 by allowing the user to view theintended selection on the image 34 before it is finally entered. In theexample shown in FIG. 2, the user selects the UP button 23 causing thebutton image 32 to be highlighted. Thus, the cursor selection may bemoved from the highlighted Star Trek listing 39 on channel 4 upwardly tothe Star Trek program on channel 3.

Referring to FIG. 3, the software 40, in accordance with one embodimentof the present invention, for implementing the heads-up display usingthe remote control unit image 34 begins by pre-sensing a button press onthe remote control unit 22 as indicated in block 42. A wide variety ofsensors may be provided to select a partial depression of a button, suchas the button 23. In response to a depression of the button 23 for ashort time, the user sees the button image 32, highlighted as indicatedin block 44. In contrast, in response to a longer depression of aparticular button, such as the button 23, the entry may be immediatelyimplemented. However, the corresponding button image, such as the image32, may be also highlighted at the same time, in some cases.

The short depression of a button, such as the button 23, begins apre-sense time out, as indicated in block 46. If the button remainsdepressed for a sufficient time as determined in diamond 48, the buttonis operated for its normal function as indicated in block 54. If thebutton has been depressed for only a short time period as determined indiamond 48, the button function is not executed in one embodiment andonly the button image is highlighted.

Referring to FIG. 3A, in accordance with another embodiment of thepresent invention, in response to a light touch of a button such as thebutton 23, the button image may be highlighted on the display and inresponse to a more forceful depression, the button function may beactually implemented. As indicated in block 52, if the button on aremote control unit is merely touched lightly, the button may bedetected as a light touch as indicated in block 53. In such case, thebutton image may be highlighted on the display screen as indicated inblock 55.

A check at diamond 56 determines whether the button has actually beendepressed fully. If so, the remote control unit action associated withthe button is executed and the icon disappears as indicated in block 58.Otherwise, the image is highlighted on screen as indicated in block 55but no other action may be implemented in one embodiment of the presentinvention.

Thus, the indication of which button has been pressed may be determinedin a number of different ways. In one embodiment, a light touch mayactuate the button image without operating the function and in anotherembodiment, a short touch may implement the highlighting withoutexecuting the function. This allows the user to determine which buttonto press before actually implementing an operation.

In addition to highlighting the selected image on the remote controlunit image 34, a sound may be made to indicated a light touch. Adifferent sound may be made to indicate a full depression of a button,such as button 23, in some embodiments of the present invention.

The initial registration of a particular remote control unit 22 with aparticular processor-based system 10 may be implemented using software60, illustrated in FIG. 4, in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention. It is not necessary that a particular remote controlunit 22 be pre-assigned to a particular processor-based system 10 inorder to accurately display an image of the remote control unit 22.Instead, a database may be utilized on the processor-based system 10 torecognize a particular remote control unit 22 and to display itsappropriate image from a database of remote control unit identifiers andcorresponding images.

Initially, a check at diamond 62 determines whether any button on theremote control unit 22 has been activated. If so, the processor-basedsystem 10 receives a remote message including a remote control unitidentifier as indicated in block 66. The processor-based system 10checks the identifier of the remote control unit 22 against a databaseof remote control units (block 68). An identifier of the remote controlunit 22 may be automatically transmitted from the remote control unit 22with every depression of a button on the remote control unit 22, in oneembodiment of the present invention. Alternatively, the identifier mayonly be transmitted one time after power up.

A check at diamond 70 determines whether the received identifier is oneof the known remote control units 22 that may be accounted for in adatabase on the processor-based system 10. If not, the processor-basedsystem 10 may access the Internet for configuration data for theindicated identifier as indicated in block 76. A search may beimplemented through known websites to identify the identifier of theremote control unit 22 as indicated in block 78. Alternatively, a singleweb site may be accessed that has information for a variety of remotecontrol units. If the identifier is found over the Internet, asdetermined in diamond 80, the remote identifier configuration file isdownloaded as indicated in block 82. Otherwise, an error message may begenerated as indicated in block 84.

If the identifier is one that is already in the existing databaseassociated with the processor-based system 10 as determined in diamond70, the information may be loaded from the internal configurationdatabase as indicated in block 72. Once an image 34 has been displayedfor the appropriate remote control unit 22, normal operation may beimplemented as indicated in block 74.

Referring next to FIG. 5, in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention, the generation of the image 34 may be selectivelyimplemented based on the ambient light conditions. The light levelsoftware 120 begins by determining whether the light level has fallenbelow a programmed threshold, as indicated in diamond 122. Thisdetermination may be made by a light level indicator associated with theprocessor-based system 10. If the light level is above the programmedthreshold, the operation proceeds as is traditionally associated withremote control unit 22 without the use of the image 34, as shown inblock 128.

If the light level is low, the low light level operations areimplemented using the image 34 as indicated in block 124 and asdescribed previously herein. A time check at diamond 126 determineswhether a predetermined time period has passed. If so, the system 10rechecks to determine what is the current light level, at diamond 122.Otherwise, a timer may be incremented at block 127 and the flowiterates.

Referring to FIG. 6, each button, such as the button 23, of the remotecontrol unit 22 may be a two-way acting button. When the user presses ona dome 150, with a light pressure, the resulting distributed force isapplied to a portion 152 around the periphery of the dome 150 via aconnecting section 164. Thus, a peripheral area of a conductive layer156 is pressed, compressing flexible separators 160 over a resistivelayer 158. As a result, the peripheral areas, indicated at 172 in FIG.7, around a central area 174 are exposed to a light pressure, changingthe distance between layers and thereby causing a detectablecharacteristic change, such as a resistance change. This activation ofthe areas 172 may be recognized as a partial button depression for usein connection with the software 40 shown in FIG. 3.

The natural resiliency of the section 164 operates as an effectiveabsorbing spring that prevents the actuation of the central pin 154 inresponse to light finger pressure. Thus, the spring action of thesection 164 is sufficient to prevent the pin 154 from contacting theconductive layer 156 until the finger pressure exceeds a predeterminedthreshold.

If the pin 154 contacts the conductive layer 156, then the region 174may be activated as well as the region 172. This in turn may berecognized as a full button depression by the software 40 illustratedfor example in FIG. 3.

Turning next to FIG. 8, the processor-based system 10, in an embodimentin which the system 10 is a set-top box 12, may include a processor 212coupled to a north bridge 216 in one embodiment. The north bridge 216may couple a system memory 220 and a decoder 234. The decoder 234 mayreceive demodulated, tuned signals from a demodulator and tuner 237. Thetuner 237 for example, may be coupled to a source of television signalssuch as a cable connection, a satellite connection or the Internet. Thedecoder 234, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention,may be a Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) compliant decoder. Thedecoder 234 may provide decoded television signals directly to thetelevision receiver 14. It may also provide video signals and decodedaudio signals to a bus 236.

The bridge 216 may couple a south bridge 238. The south bridge may becoupled to a hard disk drive 242 and a compact disk drive 244. Thesoftware 40, 60 and 120 may be conventionally stored on the hard drive242 for execution from the system memory 220.

The south bridge 238 may couple audio signals to a coder-decoder (codec)248 that drives amplifiers and speakers 250. The speakers 250 may beassociated in some embodiments with the television receiver 14.

A serial input/output (SIO) device 254 may also be coupled to the bus236. It may in turn be coupled to a light level detector 256 and thewireless transceiver 16. The wireless transceiver 16 enablescommunications with the remote control unit 22. The remote control unit22 may include the interface 26, a controller 260, and the keypad 262that includes the buttons 23, 24 and 27.

While the present invention has been described with respect to a limitednumber of embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate numerousmodifications and variations therefrom. It is intended that the appendedclaims cover all such modifications and variations as fall within thetrue spirit and scope of this present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: determining the ambientlight conditions of the room; selectively displaying an image of aremote control unit on a tv screen depending on said light conditions;receiving a control signal from a remote control unit; and altering theimage of said remote control unit in response to said control signal. 2.The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the control signal includesreceiving a wireless control signal.
 3. The method of claim 1 furtherincluding identifying a particular control unit, checking a database ofcontrol units and displaying an image of the identified control unit. 4.The method of claim 1 wherein said remote control unit includes aplurality of operable buttons, said method further including recognizinga particular button operation on said remote control unit, and alteringthe image of said remote control unit in response to operation of saidbutton.
 5. The method of claim 3 wherein altering the image includeshighlighting the image of a selected button on the image of said remotecontrol unit.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein said remote control unitincludes a plurality of buttons, said method further includingdetermining the nature of the operation of one of said buttons.
 7. Themethod of claim 6 including determining whether said button was lightlydepressed or fully depressed.
 8. The method of claim 7 includingaltering the image of said remote control unit in response to a lightdepression of said button without executing the function associated withsaid button.
 9. The method of claim 1 including identifying a remotecontrol unit by an identifier provided from said remote control unit anddetermining whether said identifier exists in a database.
 10. The methodof claim 9 wherein if said identifier does not exist in a database,accessing a remote network to obtain information about said identifier,upon obtaining said identifier, obtaining information about theconfiguration of said remote control unit, and displaying an image ofsaid remote control unit.
 11. An article comprising a medium storinginstructions that enable a processor-based system to: determine theambient light conditions of the room; selectively display an image of aremote control unit on a tv screen depending on the light conditions;receive a control signal from a remote control unit; and alter the imageof said remote control unit in response to said control signal.
 12. Thearticle of claim 11 further storing instructions that enable theprocessor-based system to receive a wireless control signal.
 13. Thearticle of claim 11 further storing instructions that enable theprocessor-based system to identify a particular control unit, check adatabase of control units, and display an image of the identifiedcontrol unit.
 14. The article of claim 11 further storing instructionsthat enable the processor-based system to recognize a particular buttonoperation on said remote control unit and alter the image of said remotecontrol unit in response to operation of said button.
 15. The article ofclaim 14 further storing instructions that enable the processor-basedsystem to highlight the image of the selected button on the image ofsaid control unit.
 16. The article of claim 14 further storinginstructions that enable the processor-based system to determine thenature of the operation of a remote control unit button.
 17. The articleof claim 16 further storing instructions that enable the processor-basedsystem to determine whether said button was lightly depressed or fullydepressed.
 18. The article of claim 17 further storing instructions thatenable the processor-based system to alter the image of said remotecontrol unit in response to a light depression of said button withoutexecuting the function associated with said button.
 19. The article ofclaim 11 further storing instructions that enable the processor-basedsystem to identify a remote control unit by an identifier provided fromsaid remote control unit and determine whether said identifier exists ina database.
 20. The article of claim 19 further storing instructionsthat enable the processor-based system to access a remote network toobtain information about said identifier, and upon obtaining saididentifier, obtain information about the configuration of said remotecontrol unit and display an image of said remote control unit.
 21. Asystem comprising: a processor; a light detector coupled to saidprocessor; an interface to receive signals from a remote control unit,said interface coupled to said processor, and a storage coupled to saidprocessor, said storage storing instructions that enable said processorto display an image of a remote control unit on a tv screen, receive acontrol signal from the remote control unit, alter the image of theremote control unit in response to said control signal and enable theprocessor to selectively display that image depending on said lightconditions of the room.
 22. The system of claim 21 wherein saidinterface is a wireless interface.
 23. The system of claim 21 whereinsaid system is a set-top box.
 24. The system of claim 21 wherein saidstorage further stores instructions that enable the processor toidentify a particular remote control unit, check a database of remotecontrol units, and display an image of the identified remote controlunit.
 25. The system of claim 21 wherein said storage storesinstructions that enable said system to determine the nature of an inputfrom said remote control unit.
 26. The system of claim 25 including aremote control having a sensor and a button, said sensor determiningwhether the button was pressed in one of two ways.
 27. The system ofclaim 26 wherein if said button is pressed in a first way, the image ofthe corresponding button on said image of said remote control unit isaltered but the function normally activated by operation of said buttonis not activated.